1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of mail boxes. More particularly, the invention pertains to multiples of mail boxes arranged in a unique assembly and located in parking lots and other areas accessible by motor vehicle, wherein mail may be distributed to the boxes by postal or other employees, held therein for storage for eventual transfer to members of the public, and picked up by members of the public from inside their motor vehicle without having to exit the vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The day of the postman bringing mail to the occupant in a residence is swiftly coming to an end. To reduce costs and increase efficiency of postal transfer, postal authorities are moving toward distribution of mail to locations where many mail boxes are housed in a single structure to be stored therein awaiting pick-up by the public at their leisure, such as when going to work or coming home from work. In effect, the postal authorities have shifted the time used to transmit the mail from a centralized postal outlet to the addressee of the mail from the postal organization to the public. Where the resident or business person was used to merely walking outside their residence to their mailbox, located at or near the front door or front yard or parking lot, to get their mail, they now must walk or drive to an centralized post box facility to pick up their mail.
When a person goes to a post office to pick up their mail they open a mail box that is directly and fully accessible by a postal or other employee working directly behind the boxes. This requires the postal or other employee to be utilized in a direct relationship with the mail box renter and raises the cost of mail delivery. When using a drive-through mail pick-up system, there always needs to be a person working behind the window that, again, reduces efficiency and raises the price of postal delivery.
Present day post boxes may be located in a neighborhood, in structures where multiples of mail boxes are grouped for access by many neighbors, or may be located in post offices where other postal matters may be transacted, such as for using certified mail procedures and mailing packages by express mail, etc.
In each of these situations, not only is a large amount of time wasted by the public, but physically challenged persons, such as wheelchair-bound persons, are made to suffer because the trip undertaken by them to get their mail is unusually substantial in distance and extremely costly in time.
For instance, assuming approximately 250 trips to a rental mail box per year, the non-physically challenged user can access their rented postal box only by driving to the postal distribution office, parking their car in a crowded parking lot, walking to the building housing the box, accessing the postal box, and then returning to their car, and driving out of the parking lot. With an average of 10 to 12 minutes for this operation, on a good day, they spend upwards of 50 hours per year to accomplish this seemingly trifling task. When doubled or tripled the time for the wheelchair-bound person to perform the same operation, one can readily see that 150 hours per year becomes an odious task.
As matters stand, the parking spaces at postal offices and other rental distribution buildings, such as Mail Boxes U.S.A..RTM., are not used efficiently, and the postal authorities and franchisees are loath to purchase more land for expansion of their parking facilities. The hustle and bustle of driving to a post office parking lot, parking, walking to the post office box and retracing one's steps after obtaining the mail, has led to the aggravation of many persons and has done nothing to enhance the image of the postal system.
There has not been any recognition given to the fact that physically challenged persons have now conquered the transportation gap by being able to operate many motor vehicles with control devices especially designed for them. A great majority of wheel-chair-bound persons, young and old, are now able to drive cars about the streets and roads in the United States and have access to shopping, jobs, doctor visits, and vacations on their own without requiring the aid of others.
However, there has not been any development in the area of postal distribution, storage or pick-up by these persons other than to require them to park their vehicle in crowded parking lots with the related hazards contained therein, struggle out of their car and drive their wheel-chair across the lot and into the postal building, only to retrace their path after obtaining their mail. Satisfaction of the need to merge the benefits of motor vehicle operation with some sort of development in postal distribution will allow both normal and physically challenged persons to obtain their mail quicker than with the present system, without causing any delay or loss of efficiency on the part of the postal authorities.